Top Items:
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Freezing Out Hope — After the Democratic “shellacking” in the midterm elections, everyone wondered how President Obama would respond. Would he show what he was made of? Would he stand firm for the values he believes in, even in the face of political adversity?
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Washington Post:
Obama, GOP in quiet talks to extend tax cuts — The White House and congressional Republicans have begun working behind the scenes toward a broad deal that would prevent taxes from going up for virtually every U.S. family and authorize billions of dollars in fresh spending to bolster the economy.
Discussion:
USA Today, Ezra Klein, Right Turn, Wall Street Journal, McClatchy Washington Bureau, The Politico, The Plum Line and FrumForum
Brian Montopoli / CBS News:
CBS News Poll: Most Oppose GOP Tax Plan — CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto. — Republicans have argued that the midterm elections have given them a mandate on what they are calling one of the most …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Gavel, The Nation, Politics Daily, Donklephant, CBS News, The Hill and Balloon Juice
New York Times:
Obama Seeking Aid for Jobless in Deal on Tax Cuts — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is holding out for an extension of unemployment assistance and of a variety of expiring tax breaks for low-wage and middle-income workers as part of a deal with Congressional Republicans to extend all the Bush-era tax cuts.
Discussion:
The Note, New York Times, Washington Post, Balloon Juice, Scarecrow's myFDL diary, The Caucus, Daily Kos and Washington Monthly
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
House Dems Pass Only Middle Class Tax Cut Bill — Using a wily procedural maneuver to tie Republican hands, House Democrats managed to pass, by a vote of 234-188, legislation that will allow the Bush tax cuts benefiting only the wealthiest Americans to expire. — Democrats were not united on the issue.
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Frank: White House ‘gravely mistaken’ in tax cut strategy
Frank: White House ‘gravely mistaken’ in tax cut strategy
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate Democrats to force GOP to vote on tax cuts this Saturday
Senate Democrats to force GOP to vote on tax cuts this Saturday
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Hot Air and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Senate Planning Four Tax Cut Votes Tomorrow
Senate Planning Four Tax Cut Votes Tomorrow
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Associated Press
The Huffington Post:
Bush Tax Cuts: Fears Mount Of White House Cave On Top Priority
Bush Tax Cuts: Fears Mount Of White House Cave On Top Priority
Discussion:
Political Punch, Right Turn, TPMDC, DownWithTyranny!, The Daily Caller, Connecting.the.Dots, The Plum Line, AMERICAblog News and Hullabaloo
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Over 30 Democrats defect as test vote on tax cuts passes
Over 30 Democrats defect as test vote on tax cuts passes
Discussion:
The Politico, CNN, Washington Post, New York Magazine and Firedoglake
Motoko Rich / New York Times:
Disappointing Job Growth in U.S. as Jobless Rate Hits 9.8% — In a significant setback to the recovery and market expectations, the United States economy added just 39,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, according to the Department of Labor.
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Wall Street Journal:
Economy Added Fewer Jobs Than Expected in November — WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected in November and the unemployment rate rose to its highest level since April, underlining the continued weakness in the labor market 17 months into the recovery.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Washington Wire and Taegan Goddard's …
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
AWFUL MONTHLY JOBS REPORT SHOULD WAKE UP WASHINGTON.... I noticed McClatchy ran a story overnight with a headline that read, “Friday's November jobs report expected to be rosy.” The headline was wrong — the report is genuinely awful. — After seeing an encouraging trend through the fall …
Discussion:
McClatchy Washington Bureau
Timothy R. Homan / Bloomberg:
Unemployment Rises to 9.8% as U.S. Adds Just 39,000 Jobs
Unemployment Rises to 9.8% as U.S. Adds Just 39,000 Jobs
Discussion:
protein wisdom and Zandar Versus The Stupid
Catherine Rampell / New York Times:
Unemployed, and Likely to Stay That Way
Unemployed, and Likely to Stay That Way
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Felix Salmon, FT Alphaville, Parker Spitzer, Right Turn, Economix, Economist's View, The Other McCain and Calculated Risk
Bristol Palin / Facebook:
Mr. Olbermann—Sorry We Can't All Be As Perfect As You — Recently, a left wing commentator named Keith Olbermann attacked me for being a spokesperson for abstinence education and for being an Ambassador for the Candies Foundation, which promotes teen pregnancy awareness and prevention education.
Discussion:
Big Journalism, Weasel Zippers, NewsBusters.org blogs, Wonkette and JammieWearingFool
Andy Kessler / Wall Street Journal:
Time to Shut Down the FCC — More transistors exist today than ever and there is plenty of capacity inside fiber-optic cables and out in the air. What's missing is competition for consumers. — It's time to close the Federal Communications Commission. This week, FCC Chairman Julius …
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Washington Times:
Wave goodbye to Internet freedom — FCC crosses the Rubicon into online regulation — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is poised to add the Internet to its portfolio of regulated industries. The agency's chairman, Julius Genachowski, announced Wednesday that he circulated draft rules …
Discussion:
protein wisdom and Hot Air
Guardian:
Julian Assange answers your questions — The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, answers readers' questions about the release of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables — Fwoggie … Julian Assange: — I am an Australian citizen and I miss my country a great deal.
Discussion:
blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Gothamist, msnbc.com and News: News blog, more at Techmeme »
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Jeff Dunetz / YID With LID:
Helen Thomas is At it Again-Says Those Rich Jews Control America — Proving once again that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, former White House Correspondent Helen Thomas told an anti-Arab-Bias workshop in Dearboran Michigan that she absolutely stands by her ugly comments about Jews …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org blogs, Right Wing News, Pajamas Media, Solomonia and Elder of Ziyon
Lbentzterp / CNN:
An Unscripted Moment on Palin's book tour — Spirit Lake, Iowa (CNN) - It was an unscripted moment on Sarah Palin's tour to promote her new book, “America by Heart.” As hundreds of Palin's fans filed inside a cordoned off area of a northern Iowa Walmart today, this CNN crew popped …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Des Moines Register and Towleroad News #gay
David Brooks / New York Times:
A Tax Reform Vision — I have a vision. — Sometime over the next couple of weeks, President Obama issues a statement that reads: “Over the past several months, Republicans and Democrats have been fighting over what to do with the Bush tax cuts. I have my own views …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, NewsBusters.org blogs, Right Turn and EconLog
Washington Post:
House censures Rep. Charles Rangel in 333-79 vote — In the final minutes as the votes were tallied on the board above him, Rep. Charles B. Rangel stood alone, his mouth open, watching the count rise. After 21/2 years of pleading his innocence and $2 million in legal fees …
Discussion:
OpenSecrets.org, Gothamist, New York Times, Outside the Beltway and Election Law
RELATED:
Ryan Singel / Threat Level:
Feds Warrantlessly Tracking Americans' Credit Cards in Real Time — Federal law enforcement agencies have been tracking Americans in real-time using credit cards, loyalty cards and travel reservations without getting a court order, a new document released under a government sunshine request shows.
Discussion:
Classical Values, Outside the Beltway, LewRockwell.com Blog, Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit
Linda Greenhouse / Opinionator:
Justice Unbound — Watching the post-retirement emergence of Justice John Paul Stevens is almost enough to make me a fan of term limits for Supreme Court justices. — Not to be misunderstood — I'm not suggesting that Justice Stevens should have ended his 35-year Supreme Court career a moment sooner than he did.
Discussion:
Althouse and Hullabaloo
Igor Volsky / Wonk Room:
McCain Exudes Grumpiness At DADT Hearing — Since President Obama announced his intent to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell in this year's State of the Union Address, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — who had previously said that he was open to considering repeal if the military carefully studied …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Moderate Voice, BLACKFIVE, ThinkProgress, Pam's House Blend, Daily Kos, Prop 8 Trial Tracker and C-SPAN
Marc Lacey / New York Times:
Arizona Cuts Financing for Transplant Patients — PHOENIX — Even physicians with decades of experience telling patients that their lives are nearing an end are having difficulty discussing a potentially fatal condition that has arisen in Arizona: Death by budget cut.
Discussion:
Gawker
Adrian Chen / Gawker:
Wikileaks' Domain Gets ‘Killed’ — After getting dropped by Amazon's web hosting service yesterday, Wikileak was booted today from its Domain Name Service provider. Now Wikileaks is down again, and effectively homeless. — In a statement, EveryDNS says they were forced to terminate …
Discussion:
New York Magazine
Faris Ali / Reuters:
Hardline Pakistan cleric offers reward to kill Christian woman — PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A hardline, pro-Taliban Pakistani Muslim cleric Friday offered a reward for anyone who kills a Christian woman sentenced to death by a court on charges of insulting Islam.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report and Jihad Watch
Business Week:
Monetary Policy: Fed Critic Ron Paul's Power Play — The Fed critic and gold bug could chair the House panel on monetary policy — Retiring New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, one of the Federal Reserve's most stalwart Republican supporters, showed up for a meeting at the central bank …
Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
Fiscal Plan Is Expected to Fall Short of Votes — WASHINGTON — The ambitious debt-reduction plan before President Obama's bipartisan commission is likely to get a majority but fall short on Friday of the votes needed to send it to Congress for a vote. — Yet in drawing greater-than-expected support …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Robert Reich and Suburban Guerrilla
Terry / CNSNews:
Bachmann: ‘There Needs To Be an Insurrection’ Against GOP Leaders If They Don't Hold Straight Vote to Repeal Obamacare — (CNSNews.com) — Rep. Michele Bachmann (R.-Minn.), founder and chairman of the House Tea Party Caucus, told CNSNews.com that there will need to be an “insurrection” …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Politico, Examiner, TPMDC and Weasel Zippers